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Jen is Green Albany restaurants

My First CSA

By Jen, on January 27th, 2012

I’m happy to announce I officially joined my first CSA! In case you are wondering, A CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture program, is a program where local farmers deliver fresh produce straight to you! Well, sort of. You pay for a share, which is usually anywhere from 20-22 weeks, usually from June to October. A share consists of a weekly box of produce that you can either pick up at a drop-off point or get delivered to your place of work (if you are lucky!) Usually farms have a large share or small (sometimes called half) share. I opted for the small share since Chris and I will be sharing the produce!

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The farm that I picked is Otter Hook Farms, located in Greenville, New York, which is just south of Albany. They have an Albany drop off point which is awesome. I figured out the cost would be economical—if they have a good growing season and the weather cooperates—and it would equal out to be about $14 of fresh organic produce a week for two people. The exciting part is that each week the produce you get changes according to the growing season. One of the benefits of participating in a CSA is that it forces me to eat the vegetables that are in season, local and organic! You also feel good because you are helping support a local farm. It’s also going to force me to get creative in the kitchen with new vegetables and I will hopefully be learning to cook new foods in new ways.

I’m so excited! I can’t wait to share the experience here on the blog.

Have you ever participated in a Community Supported Agriculture program—if so, how was your experience?

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5 comments   CSA, Food

What is Tempeh?

By Jen, on January 25th, 2012

Sunday night I made a dish out of my new cookbook (that I won over at Relishments!), How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.  

A lot of the recipes in here are easy and they don’t have strange ingredients that I have to search high and low for. So far I’ve made two recipes from this, the first being Wild Rice with Roasted Winter Squash. It came out amazing and lasted me a week’s worth of lunches!

Anyway, the second recipe I tried was Tempeh with Brown Rice and Spinach.

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Whenever I mention tempeh, I get weird looks. What the heck is it?

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Tempeh is made from slightly fermented soybeans and pressed into a patty, sort of like a veggie burger. It has an earthy flavor, unlike tofu which has no flavor, and can be used as a meat substitute in most recipes. It is also high in protein and calcium! The particular brand I bought has 22 grams of protein per serving! It is usually found in the produce section of the grocery store, next to the faux-meats and tofu.

My dish came out really tasty–almost risotto-like in consistency but instead I used brown rice and there is absolutely no dairy products in it. It is completely vegan! I also used mustard greens in place of spinach because I wanted to use mine up.

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This is an awesome cookbook and I can’t wait to try out more recipes from it.

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3 comments   Books, Cooking   , , , ,  

Lunch at All Good Bakers

By Jen, on January 23rd, 2012

This past weekend Chris and I ventured out into the snow for a walk to All Good Bakers in Albany for lunch.

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I had been trying to get here for lunch forever! They have weird hours right now because they are in the beginning of expanding and moving to a new location so it had been difficult to go around my schedule. Saturday was the day!

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Their location is pretty awkward, right smack in the middle of the “student ghetto”, but it wasn’t a bad walk from Chris’ place…maybe 15 minutes. AND the great part was that we got 10% off our order for walking there since they are an environmentally friendly business!

Since I saw the weekend menu posted online a few days ago I had my eyes on their BBQ seitan sliders!

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Also, their vegan cinnamon bun which I got to go.

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(pretty great price for a huge cinnamon bun!)

Chris and I each got the sliders for lunch and we waited maybe 10-15 minutes for them to come out which wasn’t bad at all.

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They came out looking so cute! A side salad of “Belgian Endive filled with shredded Carrots, Black Walnuts, and Garlic & Herb Goat Cheese; finished with a Citrus infused Balsamic Reduction” came with lunch, too. The salad was quite tasty and the goat cheese was awesome.

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The sliders were what I was really excited for!

Too cute! Anyway, the bbq seitan was awesome and the tiny rolls were chewy but not too hard. I loved this meal! Its really nice to see a 100% vegetarian restaurant with emphasis on all local food in Albany, even if they only have a few items at a time.

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Chris and I both really loved our lunch. It was perfect!

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I’m really looking forward to seeing what this bakery has in store for the future.

Also: I had the vegan cinnamon bun after my race on Sunday and it was great! The frosting was amazing. Love.

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6 comments   Food, Restaurant Reviews   , , , ,  

HMRRC Winter Series #4 – 3M

By Jen, on January 22nd, 2012

It was a chilly 10 degrees when the Winter Series #4 started this morning. I had been planning on running it all week, but hadn’t made up my mind until the last minute to run the 3 mile race instead of the 15K. I’m glad I did because I felt slow, cold and tired the whole 3 miles and just wanted to get it done with. It probably didn’t help that I didn’t drink enough water beforehand either. Bad preparation on my part. The 15K would have gone terrible. I ran the three miles in 28:08, 9:22/mile average.

I was glad to have Alicia and Melissa to run with for a portion of it though!

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Afterward the three of us headed to brunch at Justin’s on Lark Street. I went with the Norwegian frittata with cheese, spinach and salmon. I thought it sounded great but it turns out I don’t care for fish in my eggs.

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I can’t help but feel a tad disappointed in myself for not running the race I set out to do..the 15K. I had planned on it originally but then last minute couldn’t decide because of the cold. This puts my weekly mileage at 13, which is low for me. There’s always next week.

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One comment   Blogger Meet-Up, Fitness, Food, Race Re-Cap, Restaurant Reviews, Running   , , , ,  

Race Superlatives

By Jen, on January 20th, 2012

I’ve had an idea for a post like this for a while now and I’m finally getting around to writing it! Since 2009 when I ran my first 5K (the Freihofer’s Run for Women) I’ve ran a total of 36 races, with race recaps for 34 of them.  Holy crap!

Most Fun Race

The 2010 Warrior Dash

This was my first obstacle “mud run” and Chris and I had a blast running it! I slid down a mountain face first into a pool of mud, waded through freezing muddy water  up to my neck and jumped over flaming logs. It was pretty exciting at the time. :-)

Most Difficult Race

HMRRC 2011 Winter Marathon Relay

In February 2011 I was on a team to run the Winter Marathon relay with two others. I didn’t realize when I signed up that there was a possibility it could be 15 degrees at the start…and it was. (This was February in Upstate, NY…what was I thinking?) Anyway, I was wearing tons of layers and still froze my butt off for 5.7 miles. It was so uncomfortable and on top of that my iPod died so any source of entertainment I had was gone…it was one of the hardest races I’ve done. But I felt good for sticking it out and finishing it!

Most Scenic Race

2011 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

I’d have to say the 2011 Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race is the most scenic race I’ve done–in terms of beauty! April in Washington DC is Cherry Blossom season and part of the course ran right through the cherry blossoms and past a lot of the Washington monuments. It was amazing! I loved this race.

Most Boring Race

2012 Hangover Half Marathon

I’m sad to admit it but the most boring race I’ve done so far would have to have been the Hangover Half Marathon I ran on New Year’s Day. The course is three loops around the State Office Campus in Albany and its drab and dreary…at least the sun was shining though. Also–no crowd support, metal or bib also makes it a bit sad…but I just like being able to say I finished a half marathon on New Year’s Day. :-)

Best Post Race Party

2011 Run Like a Diva Half Marathon

I was going to say the Boilermaker for this one, but instead decided to go with the Run Like a Diva Half Marathon in Long Island. The course itself was rather drab, but the after party was AWESOME. All the finishers got a sweet blinged-out medal, a glass of champagne, a tiara, and a boa at mile 12.  We even got our picture with some hot firefighters. It was pretty fun.

Most “Nostalgic” Race

The Freihofer’s Run for Women

This was my first race EVER! I can’t even tell you what prompted me to sign up for this 5k, but I remember training so hard for it and I was nervous about running 3 miles without stopping! (Funny how distance is all relative.) The amazing feeling I got when crossing the finish line is what got me addicted to running road races. I try to run it every year because of this.

Best “Feeling of Accomplishment” Race

The 2010 MHR Half Marathon

This goes without saying…when I picked the race on 10/10/10 I knew it had to be my first half marathon! I was “in the zone” for the whole race and shocked myself by finishing in 2:04. This race remains my half marathon PR. I’m determined to beat it someday! Words can’t express how awesome finishing this race was, as someone who used to be overweight and struggled to run one mile at one point.

There you have it. I hope to add even MORE races to my list this year…and a marathon too…hopefully.

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3 comments   Fitness, Races, Running
 
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